


you got the world planned in your mind

by stars_inthe_sky



Series: Comrades [3]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: American Politics, F/M, Politics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-19
Updated: 2014-03-19
Packaged: 2018-01-16 08:29:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1338781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stars_inthe_sky/pseuds/stars_inthe_sky
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Not all adjustments to the twenty-first century have to do with pop culture and technology. How do you find some peace of mind?</p><p>(Prompt for #buckynat week)</p>
            </blockquote>





	you got the world planned in your mind

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ilostmyshoe](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ilostmyshoe/gifts).



"Doesn’t it ever bother you? This excess?"

Natasha looks up from her perch on the couch and slowly closes the briefing she’d been perusing. “Excess?”

“Yeah, just…living here.” Bucky’s gesture encompasses not only her lavish apartment but all of the Avengers Tower—the space and shine and security that surrounds Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. “Don’t get me wrong, it’s better than a jail cell or cryo tank, and God knows it’s nicer than the last apartment I had in this town, but it’s just—it’s the twenty-first century, and everyone says things are better, but this just feels like too much for too few people.”

“Is that your inner Communist emerging?”

“Not even!” He didn’t realize how much this had bothered him until voicing it. “Natalia, I grew up here, but I didn’t grow up like this. It was the Depression, you know? I waited in bread lines with my parents, for hours, and they were both dead before I hit puberty, because we couldn’t have afforded a doctor even if we knew one to call. And, to come back here, and now…it just seems wrong, that we get to live like this.”

“You don’t think you’ve earned it?” Natasha asks, her expression and tone carefully neutral. “After all you’ve been through?”

Bucky starts pacing; his boot leaves a mark on the otherwise-spotless floor where he pivots. “Natalia, there are still kids starving, just like I was, on the same streets. This isn’t the America that Steve and I went to war for, and hell, it’s not even what we fought for with the  _proklyatiye_   _Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik_!”

Her silence re-grounds him, and he stops shouting to stare at her. “It really doesn’t bother you? The inequality of it all?”

“You should talk to Steve,” she says mildly, after a pause. “He visits the Mayor’s office every couple of weeks to talk about this kind of thing. He actually thinks this new guy could make a real difference, with the way he wants to start taxing the rich to pay for schools.”

He sighs mightily and flops down on the couch next to her. “It’s one thing with Captain America. Nobody wants a broken, brainwashed Russian talking about public policy. Not if they want to make anything happen.”

“There are ways to effect change besides getting yourself on television. And anyway, you’re a covert operative, unlike Steve, so you shouldn’t be on television in the first place.”

“So what are you suggesting?”

“You’re still an American citizen, no?”

“Yes…”

“So, vote. Call your representatives. All that lovely American democracy you _did_ fight for. And let SHIELD and the Avengers keep picking the pockets of people like Tony Stark to keep people like us ready to defend all those kids—whatever country they live in—and leave the government more room to pay for schools and doctors and things.”

“When did you become such a fan of big government? After all  _you’ve_ been through?”

Natasha shrugs. “I’ve worked for a pretty big supranational agency for years, you know. And, unlike the last one, this one’s actually doing some good in the world. I don’t know a thing about how to feed hungry children, or teach them. But if there’s someone who understands the answer the way I understand security? I always defer to the subject matter experts. So, like I said, talk to Steve about Mayor de Blasio. It’s a good start.”

“How do you always know these things?” Bucky murmurs, resting his head on her shoulder and breathing evenly as she resumes her reading.

“I know everything,” she reminds him. “And, if nothing else, you can probably convince Pepper to divert Tony’s tonsorial budget to a soup kitchen.”

**Author's Note:**

> [ilostmyshoe](http://archiveofourown.org/users/ilostmyshoe/profile) prompted: [You've got to pick a pocket or two](http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/oliver/youvegottopick-a-pocketortwo.htm).
> 
> New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio ran for office on a campaign against inequality and is in fact [pushing a tax on the rich to support public education](http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-03-03/de-blasio-plans-fourth-albany-trip-seeking-tax-on-wealthy.html). I like to think Steve's a fan.
> 
> Originally posted [here](http://stars-inthe-sky.tumblr.com/post/80095089631/buckynatweek-prompt-youve-got-to-pick-a-pocket-or) on Tumblr. Title from Joshua Radin's "[Friend Like You](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0MG-vDwrU4)."


End file.
